No road, no map—but no child left behind

At dawn, the Khowai River lies quiet, its waters cutting through dense forest and steep hills. For the families of Kalicharan Para, nestled deep inside the Atharamura mountain range of Tripura, this river is not just a lifeline—it is the only road they have ever known.

Kalicharan Para, a small hamlet in Noonacherra under Mungiakami Block of Khowai district, exists beyond the reach of roads and routine services. To get there, one must endure a five-hour boat journey, navigating rough waters, thick jungle, and unforgiving terrain. For years, this isolation has come at a cost, with limited access to essential health care.

For the public health system, reaching essential health services to Kalicharan Para represented one of the hardest challenges: a community quite literally off the map.

Recognizing the urgency, the district administration and WHO National Public Health Surveillance Network (WHO-NPSN), identified the village as a priority high-risk area. What followed was not a routine visit, but a determined effort to carry quality health services across rivers and forests—directly to the doorsteps of the unreached.


The Khowai river is the only road to Kalicharan Para, deep in Tripura’s Atharamura mountains (Photo: © WHO India/ Padmaram Jamatia)

When the outreach health team finally arrived at the village, it brought with it more than vaccines and medical kits. Senior officers travelled alongside frontline health workers, signaling that this mission mattered. The team included the Medical Officer from the Primary Health Centre, the Community Health Officer from the nearest Ayushman Arogya Mandir, and state and district leadership led by Dr Soubhik Debbarma, Member Secretary (National Health Mission), and Mr Rajat Pant, District Magistrate and Collector, Khowai. They were joined by the Chief Medical Officer, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, local Primary Health Centre officials, and the WHO-NPSN team led by Dr Tigran Avagyan—united by a shared resolve to reach the unreached.

Yet the most powerful moments unfolded not at the vaccination table, but in conversation. Sitting with villagers, listening to their stories, the teams heard firsthand about the daily realities of living beyond access—challenges in communication, availing basic services. These exchanges transformed statistics into lived experiences and underscored the structural barriers faced by communities in Tripura’s most remote corners.

“Despite challenging terrain and remoteness, children here are receiving scheduled vaccinations, reflecting the district’s unwavering commitment to leaving no one behind. To further strengthen last-mile healthcare delivery, an integrated health camp was organized to bring together multiple services under one roof, including immunization, screening for noncommunicable diseases, malaria awareness activities, antenatal care, Village Health and Nutrition Day services, and deworming. The field team is working diligently to ensure remoteness and accessibility barriers do not stand in the way of essential health services,” said Mr Pant, District Magistrate and Collector, Khowai.

The village has recorded no home deliveries, with all expectant mothers going for institutional deliveries at government-run health facilities. Emphasizing the need for sustained outreach and progress review, Mr Pant directed the District Health Department to undertake regular visits to the village and asked the Engineering Department to explore developing an alternative road to improve connectivity.

WHO NPSN team accompanied senior government and medical officers from the Khowai district administration and frontline workers to Kalicharan Para to listen to community and respond to their unmet needs (Photo: © WHO India/Swapan Das)

The journey did not end at Kalicharan Para. The lessons learned there travelled back to the State Headquarters, where WHO-NPSN convened a high-level meeting with senior officials. Together, they discussed building a sustainable and scalable framework to strengthen immunization and essential primary health care delivery in hard-to-reach areas—so that geography no longer determines a child’s chance at a healthy life.

Kalicharan Para stands today as a powerful reminder of what is possible when collaboration meets commitment, and when systems bend to reach people rather than wait for people to come to them. Deep in the Atharamura hills, a simple truth echoed through the forested silence: “no child should be left behind, no matter how distant the destination.”